My dream bathroom

Today I was driving through the Derbyshire countryside when I drove past an imposing Georgian residence. It was tall, attractive and surrounded by a hedge crafted into animal shapes! Unfortunately I haven’t won the lottery, so I’ve got no chance of owning such a grand home for the foreseeable future. But that doesn’t mean I can’t improve my own modest and much loved home.

While I’m not in the market for building a billiard room any time soon, making my house feel a little grander is always an appealing proposition. Unfortunately I am actually very sentimental about many items within my home and the only room which I could happily gut is the bathroom.

I’ve written about our bathroom before and how I wanted to create a Victorian room complete with roll top bath and butler. Thankfully I never saw my ideas to fruition because I have been changing my mind and that might have been an expensive mistake. I wondered if a Victorian style could appear too cold and stark, making the room uninviting? Perhaps a modern look complete with clean lines and curved edges might look more relaxed.Tiles

While mulling over several options and annoying my husband with a huge batch of catalogues I had acquired, I watched a movie about a couple living in Morocco. Instantly I knew just how to redecorate! Moroccan style mosaic tiles, bright colours and jewelled fittings. Of course this would be a decadent design, but surely that’s what everyone wants within a bathroom!Mira Galena Shower

Shiny taps, atmospheric lighting and soft furnishings would set the scene. I currently have a telephone mixer tap which is lovely to look at, but does have its downsides. It’s directly connected to the taps and water pressure can suffer as a result. An electric shower would solve that problem and working independently from the taps sounds like a really great idea. I’d like a shower like this one called the Mira Galena, you can view the Mira electric shower range here. Mira also claim their showers last 50% longer, and as we do suffer from lime scale in our area that would be quite reassuring.London Bath

For the bath I’d love a super deep design, maybe freestanding to give an impact as you enter the room. I found this gorgeous one called the “London Bath”. Then I would hang soft draping curtains around the tub to add to the luxurious effect.house

Of course if remodelling is not an option (I’m working on my husband but he hasn’t agreed yet) and buying a new home is not on the cards, then you could always sew yourself a dream home until you can afford the real thing. I made this little beauty from wool felt and tweed fabrics. I’d build it in real life if I could but for now a cushion is as close as I’ll get.

My Dream Bathroom! Plus make a bath out of cake!!

I love relaxing into a warm bath in the morning, those few moments of quiet solitude can set you up for a wonderful day. But my bathroom is not quite the sanctuary it should be.

My bath tub has quite a few chips, it’s old and has held up very well but it’s time has most definitely come. My sink suffers from a similar affliction and just looks generally tired. The toilet on the other hand, well that is quite the comical fellow with a handle that only works if it’s attached upside down!

The truth of it is that my bathroom is old, tired and in need of a little lot of love! When it is finally made over I promise I’ll show you all it’s awful faults, so you can marvel at it’s transformation 🙂

For now though I’ll have to console myself by dreaming of my future haven of tranquility. I’d love a large deep possibly clawed bath under the window. The sink and toilet would also follow traditional lines with glinting taps and Edwardian style elegance. Think this bathroom suite from Bathshop 321, it’s called the Hamilton (even the name sounds elegant!). I suppose if we’re dreaming then my bathroom would never need cleaning and would always smell of fresh linen. Maybe I need an Edwardian maid to match my scheme, probably a butler as well because… well because having a butler would just be amazing! I may or may not be humming the theme tune to Downton Abbey as I type ;P

Of course the very best way to illustrate my vision would be through the medium of cake! It may not be as good as the real thing but at least it’s a bit of tasty consolation! So here I am languishing in my gorgeous new bath, filled to the brim 🙂 The foot shaped bathmat is essential!

If you’d like to make your own Bathtub cake below are intstructions for how I made mine 🙂

Step 1

Bake your favourite cake in a loaf tin. I made a madeira cake as I find them easier to carve.

When cooled use a knife to round the corners of your cake until it looks bath shaped.

Step 2

Spread a thin layer of buttercream over your bath.

Step 3

Roll out some ready made white fondant and cover the cake. Next I sprayed the cake lightly with a silver cake decorating spray, this gives an enamel finish to your bath.

Step 4

Cover a cake board with fondant, I made mine slate grey. Then using something long and thin (such as a ruler) lightly press lines into the fondant to create tiles. When finished pop your bathtub onto the board.

Step 5

Now the fun begins, using fondant make a rubber duck (one larger ball pinched at one end for the tail, plus one smaller ball for the head) paint his eyes on with a tiny bit of food colouring.

Then make a bathmat, mine is foot shaped yours could be square or circular etc. I used a cocktail stick to make tiny dots all the way around to simulate sewing marks. Then paint ‘Bath’ on your mat using colouring.

The tap is created out of sausage shapes, one large sausage for the centre bent over slightly. Two smaller sausages on either side, with teeny tiny crosses for the top. I dusted then with edible gold shimmer.

The person is actually just a head and two arms. The arms and made by rolling sausage shapes, one end is flattened slightly then use scissors to snip the fingers. Place into the bathtub on either side.

The head is made by rolling a ball shape, add a smaller ball for the nose and shape using your fingers or tools. Make little indentations for the eyes and mouth (these are painted on using food colouring). There is an ear either side made by rolling a ball shape. Place this onto the bath end.

The hair is made by rolling out fondant very thin, then use a sharp knife to create strands, attach these from the base of the head layering up to the crown.

Step 6

Now to fill the bath, I used buttercream but royal icing would also look good. Mix a little blue colouring into your icing, I didn’t mix it fully to leave a slightly mottled colour. Using a small knife spread this over the top of your bath. Once finish add your rubber duck.

Voila one bath cake 🙂